IN FULL COLOUR - Dark Fantasy
Chapter 76

Gabrielle

As I crawled out from below the underbelly of the scorpion, pain shot through my left leg. Agonizing, blinding pain. I looked down, examining it, but saw nothing. My mouth went dry and my heart skipped a beat. The bond. Axel.

“Axel!” I yelled out in desperation, voice cracking.

No, no, no, please.

Inching out from under the monstrosity, I peered up and saw a mass of black mist covering the beast’s face. He was cursing, bellowing and swatting at the mist as if it were a swarm of flies hovering about. With each inhale the beast took, less and less mist remained as it shoved itself up the beast’s nose, filling his airways with its unholy presence.

In horror, I watched as the last particles of blackness disappeared up his nose and for a second the beast went holly still. Eyes widened, showing the white around his orbs in alarm and the next moment, body parts and armour flung across the forest as blackness expanded from within the beast. The mist inside of him exploded like a million tiny bullets shooting out in all directions. Chunks of meat and bone fell around us. Locke stared up at me from under his brows, confused and drenched in dark, foul-smelling blood.

The thick, dark, gory substance dripped from his forehead and nose onto the sodden dirt beneath him. In repulsion, he spat onto the ground. Once. Twice. And then vomited.

His body spasmed as it forced the contents of his stomach out, mixing it with the murky thick gore around him. He tried to scramble to his feet, but in the slickness of his surroundings, he kept slipping, falling and covering himself in even more of the pungent carnage.

As I sat up, groaning in pain, strong hands grabbed me under my shoulders and hoisted me onto my feet. A sting, quick and ruthless pierced my neck and I whirled as John threw a syringe with the remains of a clear, orange liquid onto the ground.

Startled and utterly disgusted, I smacked him across the face with the palm of my hand. His features tensed as pain shot through his cheek and the corner of his lips tugged upward in a savage manner.

Before I could strike again, my legs gave out from underneath me, and I went tumbling to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

John’s arms wrapped around me instantly and he hauled me away, dragging me deeper into the undergrowth.

I tried calling out for help, but my tongue filled my mouth clumsily, making me mumble around it instead.

As he readjusted me in his arms, he purred into my neck, “I was saving this for later, but just go with it. Relax.”

The world around me moved in slow motion. Axel? Where was he? Was he okay?

My mind turned foggy, and reality warped, “what did you?” I slurred, blinking slowly.

“Shhhh, relax Babe, I’m here, it’s Axel. I’m here to save you,” he said.

The forest spun around me. My limbs turned leaden, and it felt like my body had been separated from my soul. Like I was detached from it in some weird way.

We were moving away from the camp, away from the fires illuminating the darkness, and into a thicker, more secluded part of the forest. I listened to the thudding of his footsteps as my breathing slowed and an unexplainable calm washed over me.

Finally, he set me down and crouched before me, gently dragging his thumb over the curve of my jaw, “Darling, can you hear me? It’s Axel.”

My eyes lagged and I struggled to make out the contours of his face. The voice sounded like John’s, but the face. It was Axel. He had made it. He had come to save me.

In my daze, I smiled, “Axel?”

I shook my head. Everything spun. I sounded like a drunk.

He bent down and kissed me. Without hesitation, I kissed him back, relieved to have him here. Safe.

In the distance, I could make out people yelling, crying out in pain and the battle waging on.

It didn’t matter. Didn’t register in my befuddled mind.

Snaking my arms around Axel’s neck, I pulled him closer. Kissed him deeper and felt his tongue tease my bottom lip. I granted him access and he pushed himself into my mouth immediately. His movements, the sweep of his tongue against mine, was different than usual, but I didn’t care. I was so happy to have him close. Safe and sound.

“Gabby!? Where are you!?” Axel’s petrified voice barked into my mind through our link.

My eyes snapped open. I drew back and stared at him utterly confused.

Axel gazed back at me; his powder-blue eyes scanning my face. “I’m right here,” I answered out loud and he turned away from me, searching the forest around us for signs of intruders.

“GABBY!” His voice called out again.

Axel stood, observing the darkness between the trees, the undergrowth.

Footsteps sounded and a darkened figure came rushing at us. Axel drew a knife I have never seen before and got down into a fighting stance. The figure’s eyes snapped to mine caught in a horrified expression. There was a large hole in his leg where blood oozed out of numerous puncture wounds. The bite of an animal perhaps?

I wanted to stand, wanted to help my mate fend off this new enemy, but none of my limbs worked.

Whatever John had injected, worked extremely fast. John?

I surveyed the area. Where had he gone? What had happened to him?

Axel lunged at the figure, swiping violently with his blade in the air. The figure dodged the vicious jabs and blocked Axel’s precision swipes with his elbows.

Both men were dirty, covered in dirt and blood.

The earth underneath my hands began vibrating, like the soil itself was building up energy. I looked away from my mate, tracing my fingers over the sand, fallen leaves and tiny rocks.

A second later, a wave of white, blinding light exploded through the forest, sending a ripple of electricity with it. The powerful wave slammed me back into a tree but before it subsided, a flood of blackness followed, ripping the very air from my lungs. I blinked and it was gone.

That blackness though. How it had felt. How it had peered into my mind and into my soul like a creature capable of seeing through flesh.

A cry of anguish pierced through the night, drawing my attention back to the two men just in time to see my mate fall to his knees clutching his heart and slump to the ground.

“Nooooo!” I bellowed, falling over myself to get to him.

The unfamiliar figure limped towards me calling my name. Hot tears streamed down my face. My mate! My life! My heart!

“Axel! No!” I cried, pulling my broken body over the forest floor towards him. The figure was faster and reached me, falling to his knees and pulling me up to look at him.

I hated him. He killed my mate. He killed the love of my life.

“Gabby!” The figure pleaded, cupping my face in his warm hands, I fought back with every sluggish movement I could manage.

“Axel!” I yelled again trying to get out of the man’s hold.

“I’m here!” The man replied, gripping my wrists to stop me from hitting him and clawing at him. “Gabby! It’s me! It’s Axel! I’m here!”

Axel

My leg was throbbing and oozing blood from where Nero had attacked me earlier. I didn’t blame the wolf for getting confused in all the chaos. He didn’t know me after all. Not like he knew John. It was only natural that he would have defended John when we fought.

Gabrielle wrestled me with every last bit of energy she had left. For some reason, she believed John to be me. I had dealt the killing blow and was now fighting to keep her from crawling to his broken body screaming my name.

I studied her eyes through her thrashing. Her pupils were dilated and uneven. She was in some kind of drug-induced state. Cursing Dreams and Seduction for their abundance of poison, I gripped her wrists firmly and tried to reassure her again that it was me. That I was her mate, the name she kept yelling out in anguish.

Nothing helped. She was convinced I was someone else and her mate had died. My heart broke at the sight of it. My precious mate so hurt and bewildered.

Tears slid down my face in frustration.

I didn’t know what else to do.

She thrashed against me as I pulled her into my chest and bit down between her neck and shoulder. Her body stilled against mine for a moment. I inhaled through my nose, slow and deliberate.

Come on Gabby, please, Baby, it’s me.